Correction/Explanation

For those who may have tuned her in the last 24 hours and read the two newest posts, I have adjusted one of them by removing the last name of the reporter named Robyn.
I did that because while everyone closely connected will know who I'm talking about, it's probably not right for me to post her last name there without her permission.
Unlike the Flint Journal website, I won't hide my mistakes or adjustments. So if you wondered why the last name disappeared. Well, now you know.

A tale of two stories

As a daily (sometimes more than once, heck sometimes more than three times) consumer of the Flint Journal website it is interesting how some stories appear there and then how they appear when they get to the printed version.

Headlines change (see beetle story below on the blog) and sometimes the story is rewritten or corrected.

On Wednesday there was a perfect example of that. This is the story that appeared online:


Flint makes another 'worst' list
by Bryn Mickle The Flint Journal
Tuesday May 20, 2008, 8:58 PM
FLINT, Michigan -- Once again, Flint has found itself the recipient of a rather dubious distinction.
The new issue of the men's magazine Best Life, published by Men's Health, puts the city on its list of the 10 worst cities in the nation to raise a family.
Why? Crime.
"Country's highest violent-crime rate," the magazine claims.

The story continues with the obligatory comment from the mayor and of course, the city on the opposite side of the survey, which was, surprise, surprise, Honolulu.

The readers loved it and were leaving comments on the story.


When I looked at Wednesday's (May 21) home-delivered dead tree version I looked for the story on Page 1, not there. I turned to Page 3, still not there. When I got to Page 4, there it was tucked into the local headlines columns.

The new opening paragraph (called a lede) was different from the dramatic version online and the byline was dropped.

Here's the new one:

"The latest issue of the men's magazine Best Life, published by Men's Health, puts Flint on its list of the 10 worst cities in the nation in which to raise a family." The story continues on with the previous version.

Not sure what happened overnight, but someone certainly decided to give the City a little break in the morning. No one would write a lede that boring unless they didn't want anyone to read it.

Shufflin' off to Buffalo, bye to Robyn

Time for another excursion to Buffalo, NY to help with the family. It's also time to weatherproof the wheelchair ramp I installed there about six weeks ago. So blogging will be at a minimum this weekend, but I'll try to drop in once in awhile. The housesitter is here, so I'll make this next post quick.

I'll have a lot more to say about this next matter later, because I know a lot more about this, but high class, experienced reporter Robyn turned her last shift at the Flint Journal Wednesday.

While Robyn didn't qualify for the buyout because a few years ago she left and then came back as a part-time employee she has departed after some rather crude treatment. Mind you Robyn isn't complaining to me, but most people at the paper, and many who have left, know what happened to Robyn.

So instead of having a pile of money dangled in front of her, they just treated her badly.

Later, I'll explain to you how she wanted, should have had, but was denied one of the open editor slots on the weekly side. Instead the paper has hired a couple of lightweights who have told everyone that they "are now at the helm."

I have U.S. Navy experience as a helmsman and trust me under the current leadership the U.S.S. Flint Journal is headed for the rocks and shoals. Especially when high class, experienced reporters like Robyn are pushed out the door.

But like I said, I'm headed out the door myself, so just whet your appetite for the story to come.
Robyn, in case you turn in here, you know I love you and enjoyed working with you for so many years. To kind of twist the old Bogie phrase: "We'll always have Theron Wiggins!" (Don't worry I'll explain that too!)

Robyn, enjoy the peace and quiet that comes after the Journal, enjoy that husband and kids and just know that you will be sorely missed, even if some folks don't believe it.

Oh, and one more thing, I have to give the big editor credit for one thing: He said that blogging was the wave of the future and that it could be fun. Man, was he right!

Frightening 911 tapes

A month ago I blogged about the shooting of Capac police chief Ray Hawks. I was acquainted with Hawks through my work at the Oakland Press and at the Flint Journal.
His family has put up a website for people to visit, leave well wishes and listen to the 911 tapes of the shooting.
Tape 4, the one where Chief Hawks is calling for help himself, is particularly moving and frightening.
Please stop by and leave a message and listen to the tapes.

The website is at: http://chiefhawks.com/

The tall tale of the hopping raccoon

Early this morning my wife came in asking me if I knew a creature that looked like a raccoon but hopped like a rabbit.

Mind you, recently I've been getting phone calls from a "buy-out" buddy named Kim who spends his early retirement days walking around his property talking to birds.

"Hey, Jim, right now I'm looking at a yellow-throated kiwi nut hatch in my backyard, when I say 'kaloooo, kalooo' it looks at my and sings back," Kim will say excitedly into the phone.

So now on top of this insanity, my wonderful wife is spotting hopping raccoons.

At 5:45 a.m. I mustered my best sense of humor and told her it might be the rare "hopping raccoon of Michigan."

She was not amused and accused me of making fun of her. "Who me? I would never make fund of you." When I told her I was going to blog about it, she was even less amused.

But if anyone knows of a critter that hops like a rabbit, but looks like a raccoon feel free to chime in.

In the meantime, I'm going to hide the wine in the closet and hopefully, Kim will find a new job and leave the birds alone for awhile.

Making my point

On Sunday, Reporter Ron Fonger did a lengthy and interesting article on the case of a man, John Aslin, in prison for more than two decades on an unusual murder case. I took the attached photo of Aslin off the Michigan prison website.

As an 18-year-old the man Aslin was committing a burglary (breaking and entering as they call it in Michigan) when an elderly woman living in the home died of a heart attack caused by the fright of the burglary. Aslin was found guilty of murder and is doing life.

There is a great debate whether he has paid his debt after so long a time in prison and questions whether scaring a person to death is even murder. All-in-all a great story with passion on both sides.

I'll put a link here, but if you are reading this two weeks after I posted this, it will likely be gone.

Anyway, the story, as are all of Ron's stories, well written and researched. The writing was good, but the point I want to make is that there are literally court and crime stories like this everyday that are not being covered.

Ron's story garnered 20 comments on Sunday, which is a zillion by Flint Journal website standards. But by tomorrow morning the story will slip off the website into oblivion. A more friendly - and productive - website like the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News keeps stories receiving high traffic up front.

If reporters were freed up to spend more time in courtrooms and visiting sources in local police departments and courthouses, they would find stories like this almost everyday.

Under the old beat structure that would still be taking place, but with everyone acting as a general assignment reporter that is no longer possible.

For those of us with a fondness for newspapers, especially the ones we worked hard for in our careers, it is maddening that the powers that be can't look at their own website and see what is connecting with readers and, gasp, doing more of it.

Folks sometimes mistake the passion and frustration expressed here as a dislike of our old newspaper. Nothing could be further (or is it farther, gees I could use an editor right now) from the truth.

Many of us, especially with friends still at the paper, want the paper to succeed and thrive. When the road map is so clearly there to attract readers, it is difficult to watch the caravan headed down the wrong road toward a cliff.

Here's the link to Ron's story and the comments that followed.

http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/05/legal_battle_expected_over_whe.html

No comment

Someone sent me the following headline from the Flint Journal website today:

Team tries to beat the beetles off in Genesee County park

This needs no further comment, at least from me.

Withering website issues facing newspapers

For some reason the webmasters at the Flint Journal are no longer posting the weekly Sunday columns of the two main editors at the Journal. At least when you click on the link to their names the columns posted there are well more than a month old, in the case of one two months.

If you read through their columns online you will find almost no comments. The only column that the editor wrote that drew significant comments (about 21, which is pathetic by Detroit Free Press standards) was his defense of the new website against an onslaught of angry reader criticism.

There have been some recent significant errors on the website, some which were quietly fixed and others that are archived with the mistakes.

One recent one was in a cutline for a feature on an old homicide case. The story (accurately, by the way) indicated the woman was found dead in 2004 in her 2002 vehicle. The caption (or cutline in newspaper terms) indicated she died in 2002. Maybe a little dyslexia on the part of someone, but I checked two days later and the error remained even though a commenter pointed out the error.

The comments are not frequently moderated either.

All newspapers are facing the new challenge of letting readers take over control of websites. I'm not familiar with how all newspapers watch over comments, but it is clear that there is a severe need for pre-moderation of comments.

Newspapers that wouldn't think of putting a trained, professional journalist's copy in the newspaper before it was edited are quick to allow any anonymous poster to spew hate and venom without anyone looking it over.

This has to be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Maybe it already has somewhere. In Tuesday's Flint Journal website there was a story about political signs involving Flint Mayor Don Williamson. About 11:30 p.m., long after any editors are on duty at the Journal, a poster named "inyourbiznes" posted the following comment, which I have edited to remove a city employee's name:

Inyourbiznes:

Williamson = Old Redneck


(Employee) = Young Redneck


Both have a sixth grade education and are like children. If (the employee) would stop stealing saws, mowers and wood from the Parks and Recreation Department that would be a news story. Drive by his home and you can see it all sitting in his yard with his god-awful recall sign. This guy is a hilljack!! He is trying to win a suit against the city just like his daddy did years ago. And with the Con involved he probably will win.Both of these men should be proud. Proud for the fine face they put on representing their city.

Inappropriate?

Alert us." (End of post)

There's enough libel in there to make someone pretty wealthy. And who knows who "inyourbiznes" really is. Heck, it could be a friend of the city employee trying to drum up a libel suit. The point is the post was up for nearly ten hours before a Journal website monitor removed it with a short comment about it's inappropriateness.

I'm going to start making screen grabs of the offensive comments and saving them so they won't be lost to cyberspace. The point of saving them is to prove that just removing them does not mean they are not still out there.

So in the Flint Journal's case they are OK with letting anyone libel anyone else without having a gatekeeper to stop the offensive remark from being published online. And yet, and I only bring this up again because Channel 12 is continuing to kick the Journal's butt on the Great Lakes Mortgage Broker story with another update Thursday night, they were terrified of printing a story that would have exposed one of the largest mortgage scams in the State because the offender refused to offer a comment last August.

The paper should at least be consistent in its policies about publishing possible libel.

Thought for the day

I've got a very busy day ahead and no time to blog, so I leave you with this picture, which was sent to me by my brother Mike, as the thought of the day.

Feel free to click on the picture to get an even larger look.

Have a great day!

Editor emeritus chimes in...

A former Journal editor chimed in after seeing the following errors and omissions in the paper on one day in April. I have omitted the names of the reporters involved as some of the information that was excluded should have been caught by copy editors, but most of the ones who would know the info are enjoying the sunshine somewhere warm after taking the buyout.

Here's the info sent to me in an e-mail. I know the editor who sent the info, but they have asked me not to print their name:

Page 1 - Feature on remains (including wedding ring) found of airman killed in WW II. And nowhere in the feature is there any mention of the widow. Dead? MIA? Who knows? Strike one.
Page 3 - Feature on Charlie Bell visiting Flint Central to be tested for high blood pressure. (Reporter) writes he was a member of the Flintstones who got to the Final Four in 1999. And no mention that he was on the NCAA championship team in 2000 and also the Final Four team in 2001. Strike two.
Sports front - game story on Tigers. sentence ends, then it's a jump. And when you get to the jump, the story picks up in mid-sentence and Leyland is talking about Guillen and Cabrera. And unless you already were aware of it from someplace else, there's no way you'd know he was talking about them switching positions in the field from now on. Strike three.
Another great day at the new FJ.

This from another former editor (not same as above):

There was a story in Saturday's Journal about our church's 50th choir festival coming up. I see that (former freelance reporter) has been brought back to help fill the post-buyout talent abyss. (Editor's note: I removed the story link because the Journal links are only good for two weeks and its maddening to click on them only to find nothing at the other end)

So why am I complaining? Our choir director's name is Mark Riddles, not Mark Reynolds. Sigh ...

Eds. Note: Maybe they are missing a few of the "characters" who left. Naaah, everything is wonderful.

Fasteddie chimes in on JRC meanness

Fasteddie is a frequent visitor to this blog. He sent me by e-mail a reflection on the owners of JRC, the string of newspapers that includes the Oakland Press. Recently I posted an item (http://freefromeditors.blogspot.com/2008/04/more-bad-news-for-oakland-press-journal.html) about the pending financial failure of that newspaper ownership.

Fasteddie chimed in with a reflection that brings the failure and meanness down to a human level. Sometimes I think we forget that many of the people being hurt by the decisions of media tycoons are human beings.

Here's fasteddie's comment:

"Those heartless JRC bastards"

As told to me by Dick Hunt deceased former Chief Photographer at The Royal Oak Tribune.

Dick Hunt was one of the hardest working photojournalist I have ever known He did the work of two for all of the nearly fifty years he was at the Tribune.

Reaching his goal of fifty years at the Trib was to be his greatest achievements. Dick had won numerous awards and was at one time president of The Michigan News Photographers Association.

The Tribune became another of JRC's victims when it was bought as part of the once proud 21 Century chain that included The Oakland Press.

It was just a matter of weeks before Dick would make his Fifty year goal and a couple of big parties were planned by employees and friends. But the heartless managers at the Trib called Dick into the dirty little office and told Dick to turn-in his keys and camera and leave the building. You are being let-go.

Dick was stunned and pleaded to be able to finish the few weeks left and achieve his goal also, he had already planned to retire at the same time. "No" was the reply. He even offered to work free for the remaining time. "No".

It broke his heart and spirit. I had a long lunch with him shortly after that day. He was a broken and in the over fifty years I had known him he was a changed man.

Dick dropped dead a couple of days after our last of many times together. But JRC did save that few extra days of pay and perhaps more importantly having to buy a gallon of ice cream and a small cake for the dozen remaining employees sill huddled in one corner of the once nice building the Trib build about fifty years ago.

Editor's note: If that doesn't turn your stomach, not much will.


Here's a link to Hunt's obituary: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/121807/loc_20071218201.shtml

In memory and honor of Patricia, my mom

In May 1987, just a few days after Mother's Day, my sister, Pam, my brother, Mike, and I said good-bye for good to our mother, Patricia. It was the end of a 14-year valiant battle with cancer.

(Please check out comment from my first wife about her former mother-in-law)

I know I speak for my siblings when I say that hardly a day goes by without some conscious thought of her. Her profound and positive effect on my life cannot be overestimated. I miss her more than I can say.

A few years ago, I wrote a true story about a memorable day I spent with my mother and uncle aboard the U.S.S. Hoel, DDG-13, in 1967 while I was in the Navy.

Of all the columns I wrote, and all the items in that column that I published, none was the subject of more discussion and long-term recollection of readers than that one.

So in honor of Mother's Day here it is again:

One of the nice things the Navy did during my short service was annually ships would arrange for a "Dependent's Cruise." It was a day where family could join a sailor aboard a ship and steam out to sea for a nice leisurely day of camaraderie and fun. In 1967, we were allowed to invite two people along.

I chose my mother and my uncle, who lived in La Jolla, just a stone's throw from the Naval Base in San Diego. The day was beautiful and we pulled out of San Diego Harbor about 11 a.m. for an afternoon cruise around the islands off the coast of California.

At the time I was a Quartermaster, which meant my duty assignment was the Bridge. My exact assignment was as Helmsman during critical situations. Those situations could be underway replenishment (taking on oil and supplies from a ship sailing just a few dozen feet from our ship) during battle conditions in Vietnam and in and out of port.

My mother and uncle were on the main deck during our departure, but after the daylong cruise they joined me on the crowded Bridge for the trip back into San Diego Harbor.

At some point before heading into the harbor we took our assigned duty stations and I was behind the wheel heading back into port. As always, especially on a nice day like this one was, the harbor was choked with pleasure craft, small sailing boats and motor craft.

My view was limited to the porthole directly in front of me, but really of no concern because I was steering a course dictated by Captain Fontaine (actually a commander, but in the Navy anyone in charge of a vessel is "captain").

My mother was looking out of the various portholes on the bridge and obviously became concerned when she saw all the small boats surrounding and coming at our, in relative terms, huge ship.

At a quiet moment on the Bridge, my mother rather pointedly called out to me: "Don't hit any little boats, Jimmy!"

Now if there had been a hole to crawl in, I would have. But my shipmates, including the captain, got a huge laugh out of her comment. But I was a mortified 19-year-old.

Angrily, I whipped around and told her: "Mother, if the captain wants me to hit a little boat, I hit a little boat." My uncle, a veteran himself, put his arm around my mother and whispered something in her ear and she didn't say anything else for the rest of the cruise.

About four months later, we were heading into Hong Kong Harbor as we prepared for a four-day break from our Vietnam service. As we approached the mouth of the harbor there were, as there always were in Hong Kong, dozens of junks and sailing vessels coming in and out.

Capt. Fontaine, obviously remembering that embarrassing moment for me in San Diego, turned and told me: "Let's not hit any little boats, Jimmy!" I can't tell you the embarrassment I felt.

In later years my mother and I laughed about the incident and I grew to really appreciate the real reason behind her warning. She simply didn't want me to do anything hurtful to myself or others. The fact she didn't understand how it would sound in a military setting was not her fault.

So on this special day, if you are fortunate enough to still have mother to hug, do so and don't ever miss a chance to let her know how much you love and appreciate her. Oh, and don't hit any little boats.

May the farce be with you...

Here's something funny from the Jib Jab guys:

http://www.jibjab.com/view/239949

Someday I'll learn how to embed videos so you won't have to jump links.

Yet another depressing media blog

Worth the read. For those of us with ties to The Oakland Press, the April 12-13 entry on "What went wrong at JRC?" is particularly insightful.

Much on the site to read. I'll put a permanent link on the links page.


http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/

Here's a direct link to the article and comments (some are pretty biting, and may I say, good.

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-went-wrong-at-jrc.html

Pushing for online mediocrity

For all the Flint Journal's stated commitment to its website, I'm not seeing it.

As I've said before, the original commitment to an online presence was assigning one person to the job. The original online editor tried, but never got the resources or support she needed to make it work.

With the buyouts offered last year, there was supposed to be a renewed drive to sharpen the online presence. So far that's a big fizzle. The plan, and remember I'm no longer in the loop there, was to have an online desk of six people. Six to replace one. So far, so good.

But stories are posted, many with errors in copy or headlines, and the infrequency of the postings has been noticeable. It may be that the folks left to produce copy are too few to allow for new frequent postings.

I'm one of those who has almost totally made the switch from paper to online, so it's not encouraging when you head online only to find the same stories that were there four or five hours ago.

It is my belief that reader involvement will help drive the success of a website. The Flint Journal seems to have a small group of frequent commenters, but many of the stories register no comments at all.

If I were the Journal's webmaster I would start tracking the types of stories that garner comments and aim to post more of them. And do it more often.

The look of the Journal's website is anemic. Compare it to either of the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press and you'll see what I mean. At least change the type to black and not that pale, faded blue.

For goodness sakes make it easier to find what you are looking for, please. The Journal's videos have been remarkably good, one I think ended up making national news. But they are not prominently featured or displayed.

The two major editors, who alternate columns each week, rarely garner any comments at all with their tepid opinions. Time to stir things up a bit. Yeah, your phone will ring with unhappy campers, but then that would move you closer to being a real editor again.

But the biggest problem is the stagnant website. If the future of newspapers is in their online presence, as things stand now, the future is bleak for the Flint Journal. Time to get edgy, get fun and get real.

In the one column he wrote that garnered nearly 30 comments (still anemic by Detroit Free Press standards) the editor admits to the need for a major change to the online offerings.

Early in March the editor wrote back to the commenters (who generally hated the new site): "On the Internet, to stand pat is to become irrelevant, and we can't afford to do that."

Well, it appears since his comment, the paper is standing pat.

More crime and courts is what is needed, in my humble opinion. The link to mlive.com is the biggest problem the Journal and other Booth papers have in improving to an aggressive and interesting online presence.

Don't take my word for it, check out the articles and where the commenters are. It's usually crime stories or stories about the latest Williamson follies that bring the traffic.

So if you want more traffic, do more of what brings it. Doesn't sound like rocket science to me.

If your are going to do something new, why not do something really new and have some of the editors help out by producing a little online copy instead of heading to the next stupid planning meeting. With fewer hands to produce copy, if you really want to reinvent the news business, it's time for everyone, from the top on down to start helping to produce copy. And I'm not talking about a once a week, from the seat of the pants column either.

Kind of fun

My cousin Cynthia in California sent me the following "out of office" messages. They are pretty good. The one I should have left is the last one, number 9.

Enjoy.

1. I am currently out of the office at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Please be prepared for my mood.

2. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at all.

3. Sorry to have missed you, but I'm at the doctor's having my brain and heart removed so I can be promoted to our management team.

4. I will be unable to delete all the emails you send me until I return from vacation. Please be patient, and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.

5. Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first 10 words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message.

6. The email server is unable to verify your server connection. Your message has not been delivered. Please restart your computer and try sending again. (The beauty of this is that when you return, you can see who did this over and over and over...)

7. Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks.

8. Hi, I'm thinking about what you've just sent me. Please wait by your PC for my response.

9. I've run away to join a different circus.

Go Red Wings!

In my off time I really like to watch and root for the Detroit Red Wings hockey team.

Last night they disposed of their once fierce rivals the Colorado Avalanche in four relatively easy contests. This morning they finished off the Avs with an 8-2 drubbing.

Dave, a friend of mine in Lansing, kind of huffed and puffed when I said the Red Wings would sweep the series after the second game win in Detroit.

It's easy to pick a sweep after the third straight win, but not-so-easy after the second win at home. But then that's the way I roll. I kick it old school, as they say.

So I don't know yet who we will face in the conference finals, but I'm pretty confident that we will do well. Especially with the way Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen are currently playing.

Franzen, for those who know little or care little about hockey, scored three goals (hat trick) in two of the games against Colorado. Almost unheard of in hockey circles.

So pardon this brief interruption in the newspaper talk, but it's always a wonderful thing when the calendar says May and the Red Wings are still playing.

On the subject of website scrubbing

Regrettheerror.com has an interesting article on a recent Internet error by a news site that created a buzz and then was "scrubbed" without comment or correction by the news organization.

There were some discussions of this when I was at the Journal and the final take was that there was no need to issue corrections on line. There are often mistakes, some are simple typos that probably don't require a correction, which are simply fixed and not acknowledged.

The problem is that frequent visitors to the site may only see the incorrect version. Regrettheerror.com tracks news sites that do, and do not, issue corrections. So far, the Flint Journal (probably not a significant enough publication) is not listed on the roster there.

Here's the link:

http://www.regrettheerror.com/uncategorized/ny-daily-news-tries-to-scrub-away-a-bad-error

A blast from the past

Going through a major State News nostalgia period. While visiting the State News offices Friday I spotted a front page I helped design 30 years ago on the occasion of the Spartans winning the National Championship.

Here's what I posted on the State News Alumni Association website:

I was editor when this page was created. MSU was just coming off Spring Break when the Spartans won the National Championship.

State News editor and a photographer were at the finals in Salt Lake City and many of us began working on the edition to come out the day students returned from break.

In those days we were limited to the fonts available at the comp shop and had to photographically blow up the "We're #1" twice the size of the 72-point size available to us. To make the "#" sign composing foreman Jerry Dunn built it from dark tape because there was no such headline symbol available.

"Magic's the word, not the Bird" was obviously in reference to the growing rivalry between Magic and Larry Byrd which only grew during their professional careers. As I recall, General Manager Mr. Coy, authorized the overprinting of 3,000 copies which were delivered to Jud Heathcote for use in future recruiting efforts.

Unfortunately I did not save a copy for myself, but enjoy seeing it hanging on the newsroom wall when I visit the State News in East Lansing. Not so famous was the second section, which was a recounting of all the games leading up to the finals (remember we were on break and not publishing during much of March madness) and after much debate about being too much of a "homer" we went ahead and screened a block "S" onto the front page of the second section.

As I recall we won a design award for the front page and design. It was an intense, but fun time at the State News.

As I recall, but could be wrong, Joe Centers called in the story from Salt Lake and the photos were transmitted through an arrangement with the Associated Press.
Jim Smith, editor 1978-79

Now there's a switch

At the same time newspapers are lamenting a decline in circulation and popularity, they are contributing to it by eliminating some of their most faithful customers.

In the years I covered Lapeer County I was constantly frustrated by the reality that the Flint Journal would not, for reasons of economy, deliver newspapers - even when people really wanted it - to rural areas in the county. Mind you, these were areas that we spent time covering news events.

The answer was it cost too much to give the paper to too few people. My suggestion was that the paper try and salt the route. In other words, if you had someone who wanted the paper at the end of Boon Dock Road, give away a few free papers along the way there and see if you could pick up a few more subscribers and make the route worthwhile.

Those suggestions were dismissed out of hand. In part, because a long time ago newspapers divested itself of ownership of its own routes and turned them over to private contractors. Those contractors sometimes, and understandably, balked at taking on expensive customers. It might have been different if newspapers had maintained control over their own routes. So we voluntarily collapsed our circulation with the resulting collapse in news coverage. It's a business model that I will never understand.

The same was true of the daily paper coin boxes which are likewise controlled by independent contractors. I don't know if this is still true, by the paper box at the front door of the Flint Journal belonged to an independent contractor and at times would be emptied early in the day. That led to the ridiculous situation where people couldn't buy a newspaper at the front door of the Flint Journal (they could, of course, come inside and purchase one at the counter, but why?) and the newspaper couldn't refill it, because it didn't belong to them.

If someone really wants your product, doesn't it make sense to find a way to get it to them?

Anyway, the Flint Journal is not alone, consider the following link:

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/042208/TRI_BGDNBLUG.006.php

Table manners training brings big bucks

Just watched an ABC World News report about a woman who runs classes to teach children table manners. Presumably parents are outsourcing this former duty to an expert who charges $50 a lesson.

At the risk of stirring another debate on a non-newspaper topic, I deplore this trend of parents turning over basic household training to strangers.

Teaching table manners was a nightly event at our house. Today, there are apparently so few family dining opportunities that now some parents are seeking outside help.

It didn't take many nights for my mother and her vise like grip to teach me and my brother, Mike, the basics of holding a fork, wielding a knife and scooping up peas with a spoon.

My mother also taught my brother and I the correct way to set a table (fork on the left, knife and spoon on the right, etc.).

We had real family dinners, complete with conversation and, gasp, no television while we were eating. Can you imagine?

But, on the other hand, with the export of so many high paying jobs, maybe the Miss Manners service training will offer great opportunities to the legions of newspaper people currently looking for work.

Many of the fine journalists I know could teach your children the best way to pour a beer without overflowing the foam and the proper way to unwrap, hold and eat a hamburger at your desk. Give them a try, many could use the $50.

Free From Editors fun facts

Free From Editors has been on line since late November 2007. On March 31 I signed up for a Google Analytic program that keeps a general track of my blog traffic. It doesn't identify specific visitors, but it does break them down by country and server.

In just three weeks keeping track, I've had visitors from 13 countries, including the U.S. Obviously, most of the traffic coming here is around the U.S.

Here are the countries, in addition to the U.S., that have visited the site: Canada, UK, France, Germany, Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Turkey, India, Australia, China and Thailand. Now if only I could find a way to transport myself to each place that has viewed this blog.

Nearly 500 visitors here in less than a month of keeping track, thanks for stopping by.

Just for fun....

Angryjournalist.com is now so popular (well over 4,000 posts now) that they are offering a line of t-shirts (see one here). Just for comparison, Happyjournalist.com is now at 116 posts in almost the same amount of time.

Many of the happy comments are not so happy either. For example on Happyjournalist.com: "I’m happy because the news editor who has been pissing and moaning all week is leaving. Good riddance."

Doesn't sound so happy to me. And they are not offering t-shirts, at least not yet.

In addition to the "Angry Journalist" shirt they also have t-shirts that say the following: Print is dead - Journalists get laid (off) and -30-

A line of coffee cups and beer mugs is coming, the site said.

By the way, if you don't know what -30- means, you are showing your age and experience. Not a slam, just a fact.

So if you're looking for a gift for that special someone, go to angryjournalist.com (link is to the right).

I'd get one, but I'm neither angry nor a journalist anymore.

More bad news for Oakland Press, Journal Register Co.

Saw a link on another website posted by former colleague Sue C. who points out that many of us have friends at the Michigan publications owned by this company. The company has already decimated its ranks so it boggles the mind where they can go from here:

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080416/REG/696167184/1069

Here's a teaser from the story:

Shares of Journal Register, which traded as high as $23.875 a decade ago, on Tuesday closed at 32 cents — cheaper than the newsstand price of a weekday paper.

Cream has risen to the top

Good to hear from some fellow retirees and a few of those who still retain full and part-time employment at the Flint Journal.

I guess the editorial boss is now breathing a sigh of relief with the last of the old curmudgeons finally gone from his newsroom. In fact, he said as much in a recent meeting with the reporters left behind.

Although he didn't actually refer to us as pond scum, I heard he referred to some of us as "characters," but said now that we were gone what was left was the "cream of the crop."

One of my retired colleagues was offended by the comment, I simply thought it was funny and very typical of someone out-of-touch with the news gathering process. I mean what editor wouldn't relish the departure of many of the most experienced employees with decades of institutional experience in collecting news and writing stories.

And while many of the folks still at the FJ are fine reporters and great writers, even they know that some of the cream has left.

Heck, some of the people the top editor tried to convince to stay as part of the "cream," walked out the door not convinced that he and his lieutenants had the competence or horsepower to make things work. I guess they weren't "cream" after all.

Truth be known, some of those left behind only wish they had been in a position to take the buyout and escape.

That said, many of us have friends, good friends at the FJ and we do wish them well and hope that they can find the winning combination to return the paper to profitability and greatness. We simply remain skeptical that the generals leading them into the battle are up for the job. (There's a little cliche of my own).

On the happy side, the editor wants to raise morale and increase fun in the newsroom with big raises and overtime. That's was a joke, what is proposed to raise morale are regular potlucks.

Yeah, a good meatball, celery tray or cheese and cracker spread beats a pay raise and overtime any day.

One of my former colleagues called me to relate some of the above and mentioned that "Mattel" must be branded on the editor somewhere because there is simply too much "plastic" coming out of his office.

Don't know if I would go that far, but there is a certain element of being "out-of-touch." My model for an editor with integrity was the recent Los Angeles Times editor who told his bosses to stuff it when they ordered him to dismantle his newsroom and retired himself. Of course, the bosses found another person willing to sell his/her soul to do the dirty work of cleaning house, but at least the old editor kept his integrity intact.

Saying good bye to an old, faithful appliance

We all complain about poorly made products. But I've got to be honest today, we are putting out to pasture my still working Mr. Coffee four-cup coffee maker.

This is a coffee pot that I purchased in March 1995 after my second wife and I parted company. I went to Sears in Flint and in about 10 minutes purchased a new television, a vacuum cleaner, an alarm radio, a computer and the now soon-to-be-retired coffee pot.

The salesperson was agog as I pointed to one appliance after another with, "I'll take that, I'll take that, I'll take that...."

Part of my hurry was that my editor at the time was sending me out of town to cover the capture of a young boy who had killed his twin brother the day before in Flint. I was in the process of moving out of the 2,000-square foot marital home into my 568-square foot apartment in Davison.

Time was short, but I needed to get up and running.

So, back to the $11 coffee pot, which by the way, survived by far all the other appliances I gobbled up that day.

So I did a little conservative math about my well used coffee pot, which was used virtually everyday and sometimes more than once:

Pots made: 4,745
Gallons of coffee made: 741 (95,000+ ounces)
Cost of pot per pots of coffee: 1/5 of a cent per pot
Total number of days the pot was on (based on a 24 hour day): 198 days
Number of carafes broken and replaced: 5

And remember, we're not retiring it because it's broken, but because the cost of a new carafe (we just broke another one) is nearly the same as a new coffee pot.

So when you look at the picture above, say a little "wow" to some great American engineering and notice that the new pot in the background is also a Mr. Coffee. This time it cost $13.

Pesky raccoon help requested

A persistent raccoon has my oldest son, William, a little on edge.

He asked me if any readers of my blog could help him with a non-lethal way to rid his small yard of a raccoon that continues to visit his back yard in Aptos, California.

I suggested picking it up, cuddling it and showing it some love, but he rejected that idea.

So if you have a favorite remedy for discouraging visits by raccoons please leave them on here.

Because William lives in a mobile home park, please do not suggest any solutions that involve weapons or love.

Thanks.

Say a little prayer

A longtime acquaintance, Ray Hawks, current police chief of Capac in Michigan, was shot Wednesday while trying to arrest a man. A sheriff's deputy also suffered minor wounds.
Hawks is a longtime police officer who I knew during my five years as a reporter with the Oakland Press in Pontiac.
Hawks, who is reportedly in critical but stable condition, is now expected to survive and I just want to offer a little prayer for his complete recovery.
When I knew Ray in Pontiac he was a sergeant, and later a lieutenant, but one of those rare supervisors who never gave up being a street cop just because he was a supervisor.
Obviously, that love of street patrol never changed and he's still answering "routine" calls even as a chief. A few years ago we talked again after one of his former officers got entangled with a Lapeer County police officer who was dealing in steroid distribution.
After talking about the case at hand, Ray and I relived some of those wonderful years in Pontiac.
In my early days at the Oakland Press (1984) Ray often would let me ride with him during my off duty hours so I could learn the streets and see his job close up.
When I talk to journalism students I often recount those days and always suggest that any good cop reporter will learn about police work from inside the patrol car windshield to give them a little perspective on that job.
Often the media criticizes police, as it should, but frequently without the background or perspective of what the job is really like.
Because of my police service in the 1970s, I know how things look and sound inside a police car and believe any good reporter would want to learn that perspective before become an "expert" police reporter.
An incident that I frequently recount when I discuss the perils of "off-the-record" conversations was one that involved Hawks. This was 23 years ago and at his former job in Pontiac, so I'm sure Ray wouldn't mind me recounting it now. Besides the statute of limitations is long expired.
One of the first nights I rode with Ray, he told me if I was going to ride with him everything was off-the-record. This was for my experience only. I agreed to the conditions, eager to learn more about Pontiac and its police force.
At the time there had been a recent controversy over police firing warning shots over the heads of escaping suspects. The police chief at the time had forbidden the shots, and rightly so as they pose a significant risk to innocent bystanders.
About 2 a.m. Pontiac officers responded to a burglar alarm at an off-road vehicle warehouse on near Wide Track Drive. Ray responded to the scene as a back-up officers.
When we arrived one of the officers ran up to the driver's door of Hawks' patrol car and announced, "Sarge, I popped a round over one of the guys heads but he kept running."
Knowing I had heard the comment about the "warning shot" Ray turned away from the officer, looked me right in the eye and reminded me of my "off-the-record" pledge.
No one was hurt and Hawks dealt with the officer in his own way, but I never forgot the impact of his words, and the promise I made and kept.
But that was then, this is now and I know you will all join me in hoping that Chief Hawks gets completely well.
And from me to Ray, maybe it's finally time to retire.

Love those cliches

I was watching television news from Detroit tonight and the cliches were flying on a story about a man who apparently set himself on fire in an Ann Arbor park.

The quotes aren't exact but basically here's what had me shaking my head.

"People were concerned when they came across a burning naked body," the reporter said in all seriousness.

Really, who gets concerned about a "burning, naked body."

Next was a statement that this was not the normal activity at this Ann Arbor park. Oh, really, they don't have naked burning bodies in this park everyday. Doesn't every park have a naked burning body every day.

The police chief offered the opinion that this was not foul play. The reporter then asked if it was a possible suicide.

I so badly wanted the chief to say it was a case of spontaneous combustion, but alas, she was much more polite than me.

Then the chief told the reporter that the "naked burning body" expired at the hospital.

Gosh, if only someone had paid to update his license, he wouldn't have expired.

At least the guy wasn't "fleeing on foot."

It was a football game, not cookie day

In the nearly three decades since I was editor-in-chief of The State News, I have sometimes heard rumors that it was my staff that started the tradition of "Cookie Day."

Cookie Day, for those who never had the fun or privilege of working at the college daily Goliath, was, at least in my day, Thursday and it required different staff members each week to bring in cookies for the rest of the staff.

While I would love to take credit for the creation of such a wonderful idea, alas, it was well underway when I started there as a reporter in 1977. Today I understand that Cookie Day is practically a seven-course meal, but the tradition survives. Tradition is a good thing.

But what I will take credit for was the first-ever State News vs. Michigan Daily football game on the night before the "Big Game" between the two great universities.

It started with a phone call from the editor of the Michigan Daily the week of the big game.

What the editor proposed was a friendly game of touch football in Ann Arbor. After checking with enough members of the staff to make a team I called back and accepted the challenge.

Part of the deal was that the score of the game would be announced at halftime of the real game.

With 15-20 staffers in a series of cars we made our way to Ann Arbor on Friday afternoon.

Now I'm not proud of the next fact, but in the interest of a full accounting I must tell you that each car had a decent supply of beer, which was being consumed as we traveled.

Consumed in such great quantities that I remember a mass exodus at a rest stop along U.S. 23 just north of Ann Arbor and a sprint to the restrooms for some personal relief.

We arrived at the field in the evening and found that not only had the Daily rented a lighted football field they had hired real referees to monitor the game. It was then I realized this was not just a friendly contest.

As the leader of the State News I called a pre-game huddle and told the staff that we needed to actually try and win this game. So I polled the members and found out that Paul Cox had once played high school quarterback so he was immediately drafted as our field general.

At least one of the female staffers had been a cheerleader so she became a wide receiver. I guess because she could catch. A football is easy compared to a falling cheerleader, don't you agree?

So onto the field we went and not to prolong the story, but we held our own and won it on our last possession. My memory is not good on this but I think the final score was 14-7.

Having sobered up considerably during the football game, we headed to downtown Ann Arbor to celebrate and rub in our victory, but found all of the student bars filled to overflowing.

On a side street we found a half empty gay bar, which welcomed us in and provided us with a case of beer which we finished off before heading home. Again, I would not recommend this kind of drinking and driving, but it was a fact at the time. In the years after I completely gave up drinking alcohol having consumed enough during my police and college years to float a battleship.

I happened to have tickets to the big game the next day at the Big House. So I was sitting in the south end zone with the other 25 MSU fans with tickets watching Kirk Gibson catch a touchdown pass that sealed the Michigan State victory.

What didn't happen that day was the promised halftime announcement of our great victory the night before. The Daily editor pleaded that it was a simple oversight, but I think we all know that it wasn't.